Vince McMahon has carried the weight of WWE’s success, and more, on his back for decades, and it appears his mighty back has finally succumbed to that weight. TMZ Sports reports that McMahon underwent major surgery last week to fix an issue with his spine. Sources they spoke with say it lasted more than four hours and was successful. McMahon, who is seventy-seven years old, is recovering from the procedure.
There is no word on what this means for McMahon’s future as an in-ring performer, but he had already been severely relegated in recent years. At WWE WrestleMania 38, he participated in an impromptu match against Pat McAfee, which he won, before taking one of the worst Stone Cold Stunners in history. Before that, his last formal match occurred in 2010, when he lost a No Holds Barred Match to Bret “Hitman” Hart at WWE WrestleMania XXVI.
The last year has been a rollercoaster for McMahon, beginning with the Wall Street Journal reporting on allegations against him and his payoffs to women to secure their silence. In the wake of those allegations, McMahon announced his retirement from the company, and in his place Stephanie McMahon, his daughter, and Nick Khan were named Co-Presidents. Vince’s son-in-law, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, was named Chief Creative Officer and effectively took on much of Vince’s creative responsibilities.
Following the news that Endeavor is purchasing the majority ownership of WWE, Vince was named executive chairman for a new entity known as TKO Holdings, including both WWE and UFC. Along with his new title, Vince resumed creative duties, reportedly sitting in the Gorilla position at the Raw after WrestleMania 39 and creating chaos and low morale with his many last-second changes. In recent months, Vince’s presence at WWE events has been less common, and he is said to be operating remotely so as not to cause a disturbance backstage with his presence.